Amaro hopes Howard returns this year, but nothing is certain

The Phillies first baseman has a medial meniscus tear in his
left knee. Arthroscopic surgery will keep him out six to eight weeks.

“I'm encouraged,” general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “It
could have been much more significant damage. We don't want any of our players
on the [disabled list]. But we know what it is and it's treatable. Hopefully we
can get him back in time to play this year.”

The club has not yet decided who will do the surgery or when
it will be. If he has it on July 10, the six-week mark takes him to Aug. 21.
The eight-week mark is Sept. 4.

Amaro compared Howard’s tear to that of Erik Kratz, who had
surgery on June 12. He is already on rehab assignment. He’s scheduled to play
tonight for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Amaro obviously can’t guarantee Howard will return as
quickly.

“We can only speculate the length of how long it will take
to get him to rehab,” Amaro said. “We'll shoot for the conservative one and
hope he comes back faster.”

Howard had an MRI during the third
week of May, which was followed by a cortisone shot and two days off (May
19-20). That MRI, Amaro said, only showed a fraying of his meniscus, so
sometime between then and today, that cartilage tore.

Amaro didn’t expect Howard to push through it any longer.

“He was in pain, he’s got a tear,
he’s got to get it taken care of,” Amaro said.

DINGERS: Jeremy Horst threw one
inning on Saturday for Single-A Clearwater and will pitch again for Lehigh
Valley on Tuesday. He anticipates then pitching there again Thursday and
Friday. The lefty has been out since June 16 with an elbow sprain. … RHP Mike Stutes rejoined the team and Amaro said
he threw off flat ground and is feeling “pretty good.” He’s been on the DL
since June 23 with right biceps tendinitis. … Charlie Manuel said he will
probably continue to take Darin Ruf out late in games for defensive purposes.

Recent Comments

Charlie needs to leave Ruf alone for Gods sake. The kid can hit and is a better defensive first baseman than Howard ever will be. If he is that bad then how the hell has he stayed around this long. Charlie is the biggest piece of ### in this pile always undermining young players confidence. PLEASE FIRE CHARLIE so the Phillies can develop their farm system